Unknown Skies
by Hunter 152
Summary: The discovery by a planetary surveyor would set in motion events that would change the fate and destiny of one world. Now, centuries later, as the Human/Covenant War reaches the peak of conflict and is knocking on the door of Reach itself will that change take form.
1. Chapter 1 - The Discovery

**AN: This has been stuck in my head for a couple months now and I have gotten to the point where I had pretty much written out an outline of where I wanted to go with this and researched out what I think would be needed to at least bring about the first couple of chapters.**

**As of the moment I will be putting out chapters with little to no regularity in when they will appear as I am not the best of writers and find it hard to put writings following a schedule. **

**I do not expect anyone to find my writings to be pieces of art or anything like such and will say that I may be inconsistent at times. When, or if it becomes unbearable to you, the reader please let me know so that I can hopefully make some corrections. Nitpicking will be ignored if its small things however, not everyone is a writing God.**

**I would like to credit keiranhalcyon2010 for being the first to give me part of the idea that brought this story about.**

**I have created a forum to handle my chapter thoughts and ideas as well as functioning as a place for me to answer more pressing questions on the story or other things that may come up without taking up space in the main story.**

**It can be found under Unknown Skies: Authors Corner in the forums for those who want to take a look at it.**

******12/1/12: Fixed some of the more glaring issues that were present in the chapter to improve readability.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own either BioWare's Mass Effect or Microsoft's Halo, this is a work of fiction as written by Hunter152 for the sole purpose of entertainment.**

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**Time Unknown** Hours, **Date Unknown** (Military Calendar)/

**Location Unknown**

He cursed as yet another sneeze made its way into the silent darkness.

The only reason that had him coming down here in the first place had been because of a random urge to go looking through some of the older files that had to do with his most recent posting.

He had been looking to see if he could dig up some more intel on this new ONI base that had just appeared from the ether. Not that it had just been built, no it, like most sites and bases that ONI controlled, had existed for a while. It just was that they didn't exist on paper to anyone outside the Brass and those who worked there, like he did now. So rather than try to make his way past all the 'Classified' restrictions that had popped up when he had first started looking around he had started with looking for info that had to exist, like old colonization reports of the area for one.

He had come across the report completely by accident, and what had caught his attention was what it had been written in it.

If it hadn't started off with the words incident and gone on to mention mysterious circumstances, he probably would have passed it by like it seemed everyone else had. Even 'she' had apparently missed it as well.

**/Colonial Administration Authority Report**

**From: Survey Team Manager Dr. Charles Mosburg**

**To: CAA Survey Branch**

**Subject: Incident with survey team member**

**13:42:43, March 24, 2259**

It's a total mystery as to what had happened to one of our surveyors over here. The man, Raymond Szas, just randomly reappeared after disappearing [incident report 120-6587] for the past 3 days from his post at what has recently been designated as the Menachite Mountain, part of the Highland Mountains.

We are unsure as to what brought the disappearance about as Raymond seems to have suffered some kind of mental break of some sort as he has been rambling ever since he got picked up 11km from where he had set up camp. He did have a recording device on him but it has received some form of radiation damage and only the data from the first couple of hours of his disappearance seem to remain in a recoverable state.

What data remains seems to be a recording of him exploring some sort of cave system, most likely an old lava tube as many are exposed only a couple of km east of his camp. He makes mention of seeing something before the data was corrupted. Pretty much everything else on the device had been completely corrupted so we'll probably never know for sure what it or what happened. That is of course unless Raymond recovers, which doesn't seem be likely considering his condition, anytime soon.

We attempted to find the lava tube that he had explored but with the number that are in the area and them running for scores of kilometers we haven't had much luck as of this report.

We recovered his survey data and sensor logs to find that he had, apparently, found the mother lode of the century in titanium right beneath his feet. Shame he had to go and lose his senses right when he would have gotten the biggest finder's fee so far to be awarded. In the interim, the claim would have defaulted to any remaining family, of which he has none. This has left claim in a legal gray zone for the time being, most likely going to the CAA in the end.

There was only some gear missing, presumably he had it with him when he disappeared and left it behind. He did apparently carry something out, and it's like nothing we have ever seen before. When they had initially tried to take it from Raymond the poor man went crazy and we had to sedate him to get him to let go of it. It's a crystal of some sort and outside of it composition and ability to defy testing seems rather normal.

It is similar in look to quartz, cloudy with a purple blue coloration, but unnaturally smooth and shaped. We attempted to test it as a whole and got nothing. When we attempted to take a small sample for further testing, it cracked rather prominently and we deemed it too destructive to attempt anything else. Strangely no shards of it came off when it cracked, but as I said, we decided not to push our luck.

We've put it into storage with the other samples and maybe we can get someone else to look at it but until I get someone specialized in crystallography to look at it. Until then, it's going to be collecting some dust in the stores for the time being.

**End of file/**

He had been looked through the attached files of the report. Digging around a bit he found that apparently the crystal hadn't been moved from there in that whole time.

Dr. Mosburg had died in a rock slide only a week after the report when finishing up survey work in the southernmost continent, apparently without following up on the report or the CAA doing so either.

That's how he had found himself down here in the old colonization and survey section of the planetary government's storage in New Alexandria. He had to move slowly and carefully with his investigation and as he hadn't wanted 'her', Parangosky, to catch wind of his find.

This was his first break in finding something of these 'Forerunners' that had ONI running around shutting everyone up anyone who so much thought the words, whether they knew something or not. He only knew because he was Naval Intelligence himself, and had heard the whispers and stirrings that brought word to him of it.

He knew that if Parangosky or his rivals found out about his find he would be lucky to keep his position, let alone his head as the organization promoted taking the initiative, they only did so when they got to pull the strings from behind the scenes. So his chances of having any sort of future in Intelligence, or being able to do much of anything, as he would either be dead or disappeared if he was found out, would be rather poor.

With that thought in mind he finally found himself in front of a locker marked only by number and short designation.

CAA ST OS 000777

He found the box he had been looking for about midway through his search of the locker.

Rather than sitting down and opening it up there and then, he carefully replaced everything in the locker and made sure not to leave anything to show that he had been there.

He didn't have to worry about the dust as he had gotten some low level government functionary to go and retrieve something from the very same locker only a few days ago, without having any link or connection to that at all of course.

He made his way out of the records and storage section and after wandering the maze of tunnels and passageways made his way out onto the streets.

The sun had just reached the peak of its trek across the sky, telling him that he had spent more time than he had thought would be needed to do his retrieval, but it couldn't be helped at this point.

He would later spend the rest of the day going around the city and getting to know the lay of it and what was around. He was still new to this posting and had only been on planet less than a week. That and it would serve to through off any tails he might have gained with his trip to the city.

Later in the day he would make his way back to base and eventually to the temporary apartment he had while he secured a house for his wife off base.

While getting an alien artifact onto the base hadn't even problem as he been waved past the gate, getting the package through security to where it could be properly studied would be a whole other challenge. He would succeed however; he _was_ intelligence after all he thought with a mirthful shake of his head.

It would only be after he had swept his suite of rooms for bugs and made sure that he was as secure as he could be that he placed the box on the table in front of him.

Despite its thick plastic look that hadn't changed at all over the past centuries, he knew what lay inside was infinitely more valuable than anything he had ever seen or known.

Popping the latches, he raised the lid to look at the crystal that lay innocently on the foam inside.

The crystal indeed looked much like it was described as being, smooth and tapered, purple-blue and indeed, having a large crack running through it.

The only difference was the soft luminescence that it gave off in the dark with small fluctuation in the light that illuminated the face of newly promoted Captain Ackerson.


	2. Chapter 2 - Transition

**AN: Here we go, chapter 2 and so soon as well**

**12/1/12: Fixed some of the more glaring issues that were present in the chapter to improve readability.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own either BioWare's Mass Effect or Microsoft's Halo, this is a work of fiction as written by Hunter152 for the sole purpose of entertainment.**

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Time moves forward, always inexorably marching forward to its own tune and rhyme. Only the Forerunner have ever bent and shaped it their will in the times before now. Them and the Precursors before them and maybe even the ones before them as well. Now however, time is left to its own devices and its own will. Artifacts and technology, long lost, still remain that exist to give some measure of control that would be hard to achieve otherwise.

One would do well to remember however, that when one plays with the universe, sometimes it plays back with you.

**1120 Hours, August 14, 2552 (Military Calendar)/  
Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

She had been stationed on the verdant world of Aztec about a week's long jump core-ward. It would undoubtedly only exist as glass and fire by now. Its greens and blues turned to browns and oranges. A shame as fewer and fewer of such jewels would remain to humanity now.

She had been deep in hostile lines when the recall had come in and she had had to pull out. The terrain had been both a blessing and a curse as with her armor and rifle she could have hid for weeks and picked off as many Covenant infantry as she had the ammo and the will to do. It also seemed to be the perfect habitat for the Jackals as well.

Despite hers and her fellow Spartans ability in the theatre of ground warfare, while enough to slow and even stop at times the Covenant on the ground, it would only delay the inevitable. Eventually the enemy would get enough ships into the system to push back the defenders and then start the glassing. Once that started, nothing could stop it, like trying to stop the tide with sandcastles, it all would be washed away eventually. The only safety came by not being found.

Dodging enemy patrols and the unforgiving terrain of the monstrous jungle that gave Aztec its name, she had left. She had reached the FOB hidden in the forest to find a Pelican waiting and ready to go when she got there and a full battle group in orbit to escort her and other Spartans to Reach.

Reach hadn't changed at all in the five months since she had seen it last.

Spartan-058, Linda stepped away from the cockpit as it made its way to the surface of the planet below. While she hadn't yet received any specific orders outside the recall, she was to report to FLEETCOM at 0730 on the 19th to receive a briefing with the rest of the Spartans that could be reached and recalled by that time.

She made her way to the back of the dropship as it made its way to the Military reservation where the Spartans were to be quartered till then, the very same one that they had been quartered at when they had started training. She made her way to the back of the bay, sitting down next to Isaac, someone she hadn't seen in well over a year, with Kelly, who she had been part of a squad with right before Aztec, being right in front of her. It was just the three of them in the troop bay, everyone else either there already or on their way.

Bringing her hand across her face she did the 'smile' pantomime that all Spartans knew, getting one back from Kelly and a quirking of the lips from Isaac before he too, signed back. She spent the next couple of minutes getting back in touch with other two as they caught up with what they had been doing, within bounds of classified information of course.

Isaac and Kelly had been on the world of Char, which despite its location in the inner sphere of the colonies lived up to its name by being rather close to its sun, enough to give it its name at least. Primarily an exporter of materials, namely parts for the superconducting magnets for MAC's and various heavy metals used in the creation of the Titanium A alloy which was used in just about everything by the UNSC.

As these materials were rather important strategically for the UNSC, the battle there had been raging for several weeks with both sides throwing ships at the other. Eventually though, the UNSC would have to withdraw as either the Covenant would show up with enough ships to sweep aside the Navy, or the Admiralty would abandon the planet to save ships from the hopeless attempt of saving the colony. In the meantime however, they would try to buy time to get as much material and people off the planet as they could.

It was a story that had repeated itself across the breath and length of the colonies as so far not a single colony found by the Covenant had been spared. The only difference was the number of ships and people that had died to slow down the tide that Covenant were.

In response there had been a rather large exodus of peoples into the inner colonies, causing problems of its own across much of UNSC controlled space. Populations had boomed on dozens of worlds by millions practically overnight. Even Reach, as a military stronghold, and its surrounding system of planets hadn't been spared as its earlier population of 700 million grew to 1.3 billion.

As she was thinking this the dropship tilted as it flared for landing, the pilot's voice announcing the imminent landing.

As she and her fellow Spartans out of the ship and towards the waiting troop carrier variant of the Warthog she couldn't help but notice the increased number of marines on the base. She knew that more and more people were joining the military as the conflicts with the Covenant brought the march of war to their doors that they saw little hope except to fight. This however wouldn't account for what appeared to be veteran marines instead filling up the base unless something else was happening that would explain their presence.

More than a few of these same marines were shooting looks towards them as they moved across the pad towards their ride. Already word was getting around as at their height and build, they could have only been either really tall marines or Spartans.

At least they weren't the first ones here as it didn't seem they were too surprised by them showing up. She wondered what they would think if they were told that they were in the same base where the Spartans had been trained.

**0855 Hours, August 20, 2552 (Military Calendar)/  
Reach, Epsilon Eridani System, ONI CASTLE Base**

Colonel Ackerson made his way through the hallways towards the section that he headed, people around him moving out of his way as soon as they saw him. While they might have respected his rank or position, which any other day would draw the same reaction. Today, it would have to be the absolutely furious look that he was throwing at the datapad in his hand that did so.

Not only was he being reprimanded by Admiral Stanforth for purposefully endangering UNSC equipment and personal, but for going above and beyond what was needed for an evaluation of those freaks of Halseys.

While he was glad on some level to see that better and more advanced tech was being developed that would latter help and support the marines on the ground and the UNSC as a whole, it was annoying that he couldn't have struck more than a childish blow against Halsey, much to his chagrin. Now he would have to be on guard against something of the same from her or by some proxy of hers as she was wont to use.

Reaching his office and initiating some targeted ECM against the usual bugs that were par the course when in the Intelligence department, as everyone was always trying to know what you knew to get ahead. It couldn't be helped as it was part of the job.

Sitting down, he said into the air "Araqiel".

"Yes Colonel Ackerson?" the excited voice of his personal assistant AI said as it formed on his desk.

"I'm going to need you to take custodianship of some files for me, as no doubt Halsey will come sniffing soon" he said.

Frowning, or at least what approximated as a frown, Araqiel said "Very well."

"Take all the files that have to do with the S-III project, the crystal and everything else in the hidden files" Ackerson said, "leave the rest, none of it is important."

"Done."

"Continue monitoring of network, I have some work that requires privacy for the time being," he said and once the form of the AI had disappeared, turned the ECM up just in case.

Taking out a standalone datapad he pursued the report on it.

While he constantly had to keep track of what was happening with the Spartan-III project, as that had been sanctioned under ONI with his leadership. He kept this other project under strict lock and key, ones like the Forerunner crystal, and only got updates through dead drops.

Not that it had saved him from Parangosky eventually finding out, but at least had given him enough time to get far enough into ONI so as to be able to research it independently without it being taken away from him.

While he, well the scientists he had studying it, had no idea why, apparently sometime after it had been found the crystal had become active in electrical and chemical ways, often in response to high energy fields interacting with it. While they weren't sure how it did it, the crystal had showed increased activity when near slipspace technology and showed acute space and time bending properties in regard to that.

That had become apparent the first time they had tried to move it off world for more remote study but that had failed. Somehow it had made the prowler that jumped move only 20,000km's from where they started. That was after spending somewhere close to 10 hours in slipspace and later finding out they had somehow only been gone for under a minute in realspace.

It had also almost cracked the crystal in half as an even larger crack had formed after at the start of the jump. They hadn't tried to move it after that for fear of having it bread completely.

Now the crystal spent its time next to an unseated Shaw-Fujikawa drive to study the relatively mild effects that came from just being near it. Already they had been able to bring drift down by 20% and a speed increase of 5% just from doing so.

They hoped they would probably be able to do more once they pried Halsey off her prize by SWORD Base but that didn't look to be happening anytime soon, especially after showing the Admiralty her little trick and pony show from earlier.

He was interrupted from further thought as despite his door being locked earlier, was opened.

Halfway to reaching for the pistol he kept under his desk did he finally realize who was standing in the door.

"As Parangosky's pet I should have expected to see you by now" he snarled at the person, "Serin Osman."

**2100 Hours. August 24, 2552 (Military Calendar)/  
Reach, Epsilon Eridani System, FLEETCOM**

Linda once again found herself in the very same auditorium that had marked all the important parts to her life as a Spartan, except for receiving her armor.

Around her were the rest of Spartans that made up almost the entirety of those still active. Twenty three Spartans total were in attendance today, and it would mark the first time they had had so many in the same place since the end of their training. Not even that many had been there for the first armor fitting. It was a comforting feeling to be able to look around and see so many of her fellow Spartans around.

While no doubt if they were any other unit, everyone would be talking and catching up. As it was, every single person was quiet as this gathering had to be something rather serious as otherwise there would be no reason to gather them like this. Catching up could come later, the briefing and disciple came first.

Striding up from the side came two uniformed officers and an older ageing woman. She instantly recognized the woman as Dr. Halsey, the one who had made them Spartans along with CPO Mendez. The younger officer, a Captain, she didn't recognize, the older one next to Dr. Halsey, she did. She was already rising, along with all the other Spartans as John barked out "Admiral on deck!"

The now identified Admiral Stanforth returned the salute and an "At ease Spartans."

Not that this made the Spartans actually do so but it was enough for him to continue with an entertained smile on his face.

"Good evening Spartans" he said, his voice carrying across the room rather easily, "Tonight we are gathered here to talk about a rather important mission, one I believe, that will require all of you gathered here tonight. "

Walking towards the center of the stage, a holographic screen appeared showing the symbol of the UNSC which quickly changed to the still shot of an alien Linda had never seen before.

Stopping next to the projection Stanforth continued, "This here is most likely the first time any of you have seen one of these. We only just recently learned of them and what we did led to this very briefing. This ugly son of a bitch is what the spooks have taken to calling a Prophet."

Pausing for second he continued, "Apparently these Prophets are the closest thing to leaders that the Covenant have, at least according to intercepted data, having the power to order fleets around and having high importance to the leadership of the Covenant. "

"As of the moment, we have been refitting the good Captains' Keyes new ship for a vital mission." Pausing to look each and every of the Spartans in the eye, Admiral Stanforth continued, "and that is to deliver you Spartans into enemy space and to capture one, if not more of these Prophets, then to extract with them to UNSC space."

"While this may sound like a suicide mission to most people, I, the admiralty, the good doctor and Captain Keyes here all believe that it is our best chance for surviving this war. We intend to take the fight to the enemy, and for that we need the best soldiers we have."

Stopping, looking at the Spartans, still standing at parade rest, he continued, "Those of you who don't wish to take part of this are able to stand down from this, are there any of you who wish to do so?"

Not a single Spartan moved.

Sharing a smile with Dr. Halsey before turning back to the assembled Spartans he said "Very good, thank you. I will now turn this over to the good doctor here to explain more in detail everything that is going to happen in support of this operation, Dr. Halsey?"

As the Admiral moved back and Dr. Halsey moved forward to talk, Linda couldn't help feel like everything was about to change.

**0400 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)/  
Reach Orbit, Epsilon Eridani System, UNSC _Pillar of Autumn_**

The hum of a ship, its air filters blowing, the deck imperceptivity vibrating near the engines at times, the chatter of voices from the mess and everywhere else, all served to remind her of where she was and what she was doing there.

She had received her orders with her fellow Spartans, brothers and sisters long absent and meetings overdue, back where it all had started.

The briefing had moved forward from where Admiral Stanforth had left off until an hour into Dr. Halsey's briefing on the Covenant caste system, they had been interrupted by a message from FLEETCOM that had come for the Admiral.

The Covenant had found Reach.

While the news that the Covenant had found reach was distressing on many levels, the good news was that apparently it was only a small detachment of soldiers and a single corvette at the time.

Luckily the fleet had discovered the ship rather easily as it slipped into the system right in the middle of an orbital dock which had destroyed the ship, with only a few of the Covenant making it off the ship before the fleet blew the rest of it to kingdom come.

The fact that the Covenant had somehow found Reach would mean that more would be coming, and they would never stop coming until Reach and the rest of the system were destroyed.

So far the incident had been hushed up so as to prevent a panic, but soon it would leak out and pandemonium would rule. In preparation for the imminent arrival the Covenant fleet, ships from surrounding systems had been trickling in. The defense fleet had grown from its already large 150 ships to something approaching 250 with even more coming in by the hour. If that didn't alert the civilians to the fact that something was about to happen, then nothing else would.

For the past 6 days all the Spartans had been confined to the _Pillar of Autumn_. The ship was still finishing its refit, thankfully leaving the surface of the planet and was currently in orbit finishing tests on the experimental reactors, and calibrating the new Slipspace drive it had been fitted.

Linda and the rest of the Spartans had been growing restless, and they weren't the only ones as the tension in the air and the fleet had been growing thicker every day.

Just the other day two marine platoons had gone at each other in the barracks and now were now in the middle of occupying the medical ward. So far no one had died, but until something happened, it was only a matter of time until more fight broke out.

Linda's restlessness had been transferred into constantly cleaning her rifle and familiarizing herself with her new armor. While it was mostly the same as her old suit, it still had thousands of tweaks and differences that to those who worn it for years. Already they had realized, and had had to tweak dozens of small things that came about just from the shields alone.

The ship would be stocked and ready to go within the next 24 hours if what engineering had said. When the time came, they would be leaving on their mission regardless of whether the Covenant had finally shown up or not.

If the Covenant came before that time however, then they would have to fight.

**0530 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)/  
Reach Orbit, Epsilon Eridani System, UNSC _Circumference_**

Ackerson cursed as he made his way to the back of the ONI refit prowler that had been commissioned to follow the _Autumn_ into Covenant space. It had been intended to gather intelligence and leave some nuclear surprises in Covenant space but the situation that was currently at hand had scraped that idea.

Right now he was under orders to get off the planet, and to make sure that the Forerunner data and Artifact he had in the case in his hand did not fall into the hands of the Covenant.

While he didn't mind that he was being pulled from the doomed planet, he was mourning at the loss of the Forerunner Artifact near the pole as ONI was getting it rigged to blow. The other issue was that he didn't think the crystal in the case he was carrying would survive another trip to slipspace. He didn't have much of a choice in the matter however; as he was sure that if he tried anything that, that bitch Osman would track him down and kill him before following the order herself.

Finally reaching the compartment he was looking for, he entered right as the ship slipped its moorings and started to make its way to the jump point on the systems edge.

Setting the case down on the small desk in the corner, he was about to leave to go back to the bridge when sound like tinkling glass reached his ears. Fearing the worst he went to the case and opened it to look inside.

Somehow, the crystal had changed shape. Losing its tapered points it had somehow split into an almost flower shaped form and seemed to sparkle with white flashes in the depths of the material. More alarming however, was the rather prominent third crack in its side with fractures radiating out from it.

There had been a special box installed last minute on the ship to hopefully shield the crystal from the effects of slipspace. While the _Circumference_ had yet to even start charging its drive for the jump and there were no nearby ships doing do somehow the crystal was reacting and as such need to go into the box right now!

He drew several looks from the ONI agents as he moved through the ship with the crystal in his hands. At least they moved out the way rather than get in his path.

Reaching the hold that held the box, the name being bit of a misnomer as it was bigger a scorpion tank, he very carefully placed it inside and sighed with relief as it noticeably dimmed and seemed to calm again. After making sure that the box was closed and secured, he made his way back to his compartment and sat down.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he pulled out his datapad to write down his observation of what had happened with the crystal.

The flash of light that was the Transition was the last thing he saw before he died.

**1142 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)/  
Remote Observation Probe 254896, Epsilon Eridani System**

The remote probe had been placed in the orbiting Oort cloud at the far reaches of the system. It had been positioned there to provide some form of early detection in case of rouge stellar bodies or possible Covenant incursion into the far reaches of the system. Due to its extreme range and basic software, it would be unable to properly observe and interpret what occurred at 0542 Hours, August 30, 2552.

At 11:41:58 it detected a spatial anomaly originating from inside the Epsilon Eridani System, near the planet Reach.

At 11:42:23 the previously detected spatial anomaly grew outside the detection parameter of the device. A large optical/electromagnetic flash occurred at the same time that blinded all sensors on the craft.

At 11:42:55 reboot of instruments restores functionality of sensors.

At 11:43:02 sensor data shows lack of returns on the celestial bodies of the Epsilon Eridani System, conclusion by the probe is that its instruments have malfunctioned, notification sent to UNSC Station Fermion, no response.

At 13:59:56 positive returns from within the stored bounds of Epsilon Eridani System, radar returns match sections of Covenant ships, alert set to UNSC Reach FLEETCOM, no response.

At 15:00:00 further investigation of radar returns shows the classification of the Covenant fleet, 167 ships, as instead being a debris cloud.

06:52:14 September 5, 2552 positive return from UNSC _Calypso._

07:14:32 recovery of probe by UNSC _Calypso_, end of recording.


	3. Chapter 3 - Unknown Skies

AN: Here is where I'm going to set the tone for the next chapter or two. Replacing the forum notification with this and moving it to the first chapter. Enjoy.

**12/1/12: Chapters 1 and 2 have been edited to improve readability, Chapter 3 posted and replaced earlier forum notification.  
**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own either BioWare's Mass Effect or Microsoft's Halo, this is a work of fiction as written by Hunter152 for the sole purpose of entertainment.**

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Stars announce themselves to the void through their shining light. They paint a canvas across the sky and light the heavens with beauty and mystery. They announce their presence and history for the ages to see and today, a new star joins them in the skies…

**1800 Hours, September 11, 2552 (+12 Days post Transition, Military Calendar)/  
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach, HIGHCOM Alpha-4 "Olympic Tower", New Alexandria**

Making her way past the last checkpoint between her and the elevator to the surface Dr. Catherine Halsey couldn't help but let out a sigh as she thought back to the events of the past couple of days. What a couple of days indeed, to bring about what had to read as something from an old bad sci-fi movie if any comparison could be made to the situation at hand.

**Flashback 10 hours earlier**

She walked past the two marines who guarded the door to the meeting room that seemed a cough away from breaking down into bloodbath if the young female Captain's face a quarter of the way around the table filled with officers said anything. Every face at the table belonged to someone who held the rank of Admiral or General except for Captain Keyes who looked rather overwhelmed by the situation at hand and this other Captain who she could now see had on the dark greys and blacks of an ONI officer and with the rather typical lack of nametag that came with it.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting ladies and gentleman, for some reason I was held up as security apparently had orders to refuse me entrance to this meeting" she stated simply while sitting down in the chair left open to Admiral Whitcombs' right. Judging from the annoyed looks that were being shot towards the young ONI officer it was rather apparent what had been the cause of that.

The woman turned in her seat to address Admiral Whitcomb "With all due respect Sir, I still don't believe that she needs to be here. Her place could have been filled by any of the other Scientists that were actually part of the group that compiled the report we've all read."

As she was talking Halsey was better able to see the face that turned more towards the light, something about the face tugging at her memories at the sight. It wasn't until she caught the lighter streaks of gray barely running through her hair did she make the connection with who this woman was.

"I see," she said, her voice rising over the sound of the two officer's discussion. "Margaret took you in and made you part of ONI… Serin."

With confusion about her statement blossoming on the faces of the assembled officers, the now identified woman turned to face her fully for the first time bringing back more memories of woman back in the days before the war had started, back before so many of her Spartans had died during the attempt to make them what they had to become.

"Indeed Doctor, but right now isn't the time to be airing the dirty laundry for all to see now is it."

"No, I guess not" she agreed, "regardless, we should sit down and have a talk as I'm sure that if my guess as to why you're here is close, then we will be seeing much more of each other in the coming days. Provided of course, the childish display earlier today isn't going to become a regular occurrence?" Halsey asked with a soft smile.

A short nod was all she received, not that she expected much more than that. She turned back to the assembled officers and waited for the meeting to officially start, tuning out the looks being shot towards her and Serin.

Despite a lingering look on his face Admiral Whitcomb started to speak, "Now that everyone is here and apparently settled let's begin. This is an emergency meeting to address what has collectively come to be known as the Transition. "

"On August 30, 2552 at around 0530 Hours an event occurred within the bounds of Epsilon Eridani System near the planet Reach."

As he talked, the holotank in the center of the table hummed to life and began to play the start of a recorded feed from the time he was talking about.

**Flashback to the time in question**

Captain Jacob Keyes was standing before the older plotting board that came with his new command when his communications Officer called for his attention, saying that a priority message had come in over the HIGHCOM channel and that he was sending it to the board.

Turning his attention back to the board he was able to catch the start of a transmission from Admiral Freemont, commander of the Defense fleet.

"As of 0520 Hours, probes from the Remote Scanning Outpost on the systems edge that they have received positive returns on a Covenant Fleet. While numbers are inconclusive about a solid number, data suggests anywhere from 200 to 300 ships. "

He had continued on from there but all that Keyes could think about was the number of ships mentioned. The UNSC had only been able to hold when they had a distinct numerical advantage. With 252 ships currently in system along with the 20 orbital defense platforms, not including other military assets, the largest concentration of military might outside of Earth was currently in this very system. To hear that the Covenant was coming with forces that could equal or even outnumber them was a premonition of disaster.

"All ships are to gather at rally point Bravo and await further orders. I won't lie and say that we will win this fight but I guarantee that we will bleed these fanatical bastards so grievously for every meter of space, every life lost, every drop of blood that they spill, that they will remember this fight. They will tell stories about how we fought them to the last man and woman, how we destroyed their ships and shattered their fleets. They will learn that they choose the wrong planet to attack this day and we will never let them forget that!"

Already Keyes could feel the words sparking off down the ship, the grim determination to do just that. The roars of the marines as they stomped their feet and bellowed their cries already giving the air energy and the beginnings of blood-lust.

As it stood, they would have to fight anyways as they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon as they were still finishing the calibrations to the Shaw-Fujikawa engine as it had been replaced with one that outperformed the other.

Soon the _Autumn_ and the rest of the fleet found themselves in holding positions at Epsilon Eridani's L4 Lagrange point. The time hack in the corner of the plot was counting down till the estimated arrival of the Covenant Fleet. While they knew the general heading of the fleet they had no idea where they would transition at within the system however, leading to the fleet having to hang back and attempt to organize around where they appeared. Thus why they were where they were at as it was the closest to most of the calculated emergence points that had been made.

As the clock reached the minute mark navigation yelled out "we have a spatial occurrence off the planet reach consistent with the formation of a Slipspace transition. The readings are strange however, bringing up sensor feed of the event."

The picture that came up showed what looked like a civilian yacht moving away from one of Reach's orbital yards but had the characteristic smearing of space that alluded to the start of a transition to Slipspace. As he was pondering who would be crazy enough to attempt a transition that close to the gravity well of a planet, probably the strangest and scariest things that he would ever see happened.

The event horizon that was the entrance to the 11 non-visible dimensions that made up Slipspace appeared. Rather than in front of the ships as it should have however, it bloomed slowly from within the ship itself, originating from what he would later conclude to be the storage hold. The ship seemed to both expand and contract rather in the most impossible ways before it simply disintegrated, torn apart by the stresses exerted upon it. Rather than disappearing however, the sphere that was the entrance to Slipspace continued to grow.

As this had been happening the time hack had reached the end of its count and already the portals that marked where the Covenant fleet was about to appear started to form.

He still wouldn't be able to describe what happened next, it would appear to most that the universe, quite simply, just broke during that time.

The Slipspace event that had swallowed up the yacht ballooned suddenly and without warning. In seconds it had swallowed Reach and already was scant kilometers from the assembled fleet. To the outside observer it would appear like a giant twisting hole in the universe had swallowed up a planet and was quickly gobbling up the sun. Eventually it would reach to encompass the entire system only to stop after taking a small bite out of the systems rather far flung Kuiper belt. It would recede leaving what it hadn't touched alone but leaving nothing but empty space. Empty except for the sheared parts of Covenant ships and a few glittering chunks of crystal that slowly crumbled to dust.

To those inside however it would be much more terrifying as suddenly it looked like the universe reached out and pulled them into darkness before light returned as the sun was pulled in as well. To those on the fleet it would more terrifying as they watched the event wash over first the planet they were set to defend, and then over the incoming Covenant portals. As the event washed over the portals they distended and warped, twisting into shapes that looked like they were from and Escher painting, openings that no longer fit to the objects trying to exit through them.

The Covenant fleet had no way of knowing what was happening and wouldn't survive long enough to figure out what had happened to them as parts of their ships transitioned into the warped space that had taken the system and the rest transitioned into the real-space left behind. The edges of Slipspace effortlessly and easily tore the Covenant fleets to ribbons without the humans having to do anything at all.

**End of Flashback**

As the holotank powered down Catherine couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine every time she saw what had been simply dubbed the Transition.

If the Covenant fleet hadn't arrived like it had or if that crystal had gone out like that on the planet rather than where it did then at the very least it wouldn't have just been Ackerson and the ONI agents on the ship to go like they had, a good chunk of Reach would have done the same as well if her and Cortana's calculations were correct.

Looking at the assembled officers she could see them having similar thoughts as well if the pale faces and sweaty brows had anything to say about it. Jacob looked almost like he was going to be sick, same with Admiral Freemont. Understandable as they had seen it as it was happening firsthand unlike everyone else in the room at the moment.

After taking a few moments to visibly compose himself Admiral Whitcomb addressed her, "Dr. Halsey could you take a few moments to explain to us what exactly happened during the Transition and what you have uncovered since then?"

"All the people in the room have clearance to hear what I am about to say correct?" She waited until she had received nods from Admiral Whitcomb and Captain Osman.

Collecting her thoughts she leaned forward and spoke, "As I and many of the others within the scientific community available to us at this time have found and plainly seen was that the Epsilon Eridani system was involved with an unprecedented Slipspace event. The event horizon somehow was able to grow to sizes that even now we can't find any way of explaining at this time. We know that the event was triggered by a Forerunner artifact that Colonel Ackerson acquired that was found on this planet back when it was first being colonized."

Seeing a few confused looks when she referenced the Forerunners she added, "The Forerunners are the beings who the Covenant apparently view as gods but are or were an extremely advanced race that left artifacts much like the crystal that made this whole mess."

"We believe that it came from the caverns that contain a collapsed Forerunner installation that ONI CASTLE Base was built over. We concluded this after the subsequent capture and extraction of data from the Colonels AI pointed us to old colonization records that support this. "

"The crystal has properties that allowed for it to bend time and space to a degree and is what allowed for the more refined Slipspace jumps that we have been able to enjoy for the past couple of months. Apparently Colonel Ackerson was studying the holy grail of Slipspace under everyone's nose except for ONI's," sparing a look at Serin who had maintained neutral look on her face so far. "The crystal had been damaged however when it was first recovered and further damaged the first time the Colonel attempted to take it out of system. "

"As we have only been able to recover less than 8 grams of the crystal and no pieces over 2 in weight we conclude that the last attempt to move it before the arrival of the Covenant fleet it caused to break and cause the event that occurred."

She paused here for a second to let everything that she had said to absorb and was rather startled when Vice Admiral Jeremiah Connery laughed a bit. After he was done he spoke up "so despite being the ass he was, he somehow, in the end, saved us all, ha. At least he did something good with his death as otherwise he probably stick around and continue to cause us all misery.

With a pained smile that was shared with most of the officers in the room Halsey said, "When you put it that way I guess so, don't forget though that the event could have just as easily tore us apart like it did him and the Covenant."

Admiral Whitcomb spoke up, "We'll say a few words and give him a medal and hopefully everyone will forget about him soon enough. Enough about that however, what exactly did the Transition do Dr. Halsey."

"I was just getting to that Admiral" she said, "We aren't exactly sure at this time. We know that the Transition picked up the entire system and moved to its current position. Where that is however, we are still trying to figure out as we need rather exact coordinates if we wish to engage in Slipspace travel. Rough estimates put us about 2000 light-years closer rimward and at least 370 light-years higher on the galactic plane from our original position. This places us close to the ceiling of the galaxy and rather far from Earth and UNSC space. At current speeds it would take us about 2 years to make it from here back to human space."

Quickly adding before the assembled officers could start yelling, "We are however currently fitting a Slipspace engine that was recovered from the remains of the Covenant fleet to a Corvette in an attempt to shortcut this time. While the condition of most of the Covenant fleet is little more than pieces of scrap, we have recovered several almost completely intact vessels thanks to the Transition and with them a great deal of technology."

"We had originally hoped that the only other Forerunner artifact on the planet to be of more help than it will most likely be. What had at first appeared to be a large data cache was in fact more of a relay for something referred to as the Domain from what Cortana has been able to decipher. While there is indeed a great deal of information within the relays cache, most of it is of the non-technical variety. We are currently still cataloging what we can from it but we aren't holding much hope for it to start handing out miracles" she finished.

"Thank you for your speaking Dr. Halsey, if this Covenant engine works then we will have already gained a great advantage for the war effort, let alone what else we may have gained from the wrecks" Admiral Whitcomb said. "Now we need to take into account the status of the Military and have an idea where we stand in terms of readiness. Admiral Freemont if you would speak?"

"Certainly Admiral, the Defense Fleets stands at full readiness with the 20 orbital defense platforms, 1 Super-Carrier, 2 Carrier, 11 Cruisers, 38 Destroyers, 63 Frigates and 2 repair and refit stations. Vice Admiral Connery's Eighth Fleet stands at 7 Cruisers, 21 Destroyers, 49 Frigates and a repair and refit station. Rear Admiral Dames' Battle-group stands at 3 Cruiser, 9 Destroyers and 21 Frigates. Last, Rear Admiral O'Donnell's Battle-group stands at 2 Cruiser, 7 Destroyers, and 15 Frigates. No ships lost during the Transition Admiral."

"Very good, and what about…."

**End of Flashback**

The meeting had dragged on at that point and she couldn't leave to get back to work as she had to field questions on recovered technology and more details about the Forerunners. Later on in the meeting Admiral Whitcomb had appointed Captain Osman as interim head of ONI on Reach at least till contact could be reestablished with the rest of UNSC space. The meeting had finally ended with the assignment of Rear Admiral's Dames' and O'Donnell's Battle-Groups being put on patrol as the Transition had disrupted the Kuiper Belt and already reports of rouge objects were coming in from the outlying planets in the system.

She had just managed to reach the elevator when she heard a "Catherine!" come up the hall from behind her. Turning she caught sight of Captain Keyes, Jacob, moving up to her as he had apparently just been dismissed by Admiral Whitcomb.

She held the elevator as Jacob joined her and came to stand beside her, obviously intent on talking to her.

"Miranda is in system" caught her more by surprise than anything else so far today had. "She was part of Admiral Dames' Battle-group and when they answered the Priority message from FLEETCOM she came as well. While I know that you and her don't have the best of relationships right now, I would like it if you two could at least take the time to at least meet and talk a bit. After the events of the past couple of days, what with the Transition and all, part of me wants you two to at least see each other as events like this have a way of making you reevaluating life."

"If she would even agree to meet with me I would be rather surprised" she found herself saying before she could choose something more tactful. The kind of sad depressed look on his face however had her say "While I don't think that anything will come of it, I will make an attempt to meet with her so stop making that face, here I thought military men were supposed to be big strong tuff guys."

That managed to get a laugh out of him at least. How many years had it been now since she had last been able to sit and joke around? Too many, she told herself, too many indeed.

**0700 Hours, September 13, 2552 (+14 Days post Transition, Military Calendar)/  
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach, Military Reservation B-2496**

Linda couldn't remember the last time she had so little to do except to train and wait. It had been 14 days since the event that everyone had started to call the Transition had happened. For the past couple of years she and every Spartan that could fight had been constantly moving from one planet to another, one fight to another. As it stood she had spent more time in cryo than she been awake and fighting. While she may have been hitting her mid 40 chronologically, she was barely into her 30 biologically. Cryosleep could really mess with people like that for those that used it a lot.

Now, however, she had spent the last 14 days doing almost nothing and that's how she found herself out in Reservation B-2496.

She was currently perched on a slight hill looking out across the prairie that towards the hills and forests that all Spartans called home.

The wind that came up and stirred the grasses and made the whole field sway gently also served to remind her that she needed to get a haircut soon. Otherwise she would have to tie it back so it wouldn't lay across the seal for her helmet.

It felt nice to have it blow in the wind however, so maybe she would keep it longer if she could enjoy moments like this more often.

The sound of rustling grass told her that someone was coming up behind her. She had known who it was and had heard him coming for a while now. She didn't move or turn to greet him, content to stay where she was as he sat down next to her.

John hadn't changed much over the years, but they hadn't been as kind to him as they had her. While they had fought in many battles together, she had moved around much more than he had and spent a great deal more time on ice than he did. He preferred not to go into cryo at times and would rather sit and think on the past and of the battles to come.

Not that he was a grizzled old man now, no, he was still youngish by human standards, just a light dusting of grey in the brown of his hair and the more lines on his face from the sights he had seen and the comrades he had lost.

"Do you remember" he asked her, voice rumbling from the lack of use, "when we came out here and I wondered if there was anyone else out there in the sky?"

"Like it was just the other day, it was the middle of the night when we snuck out here" she replied, "and you asked me if they wondered what it was like here, like we wondered what it was like out there."

"You asked me if we would ever get to meet them."

"I did" she said, "and you said you hope so don't you?"

They sat there till the skies changed and the stars came out just like they had that night so long ago.

"Well don't you?"

**0030 Hours, September 13, 2552 (+14 Days post Transition, Military Calendar)  
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach, UNSC **_**Dark Omen**_** FFG-986**

Commander Jonathan Latch and his ship, _Dark Omen_, had been assigned to watch for rouge objects from the now largely defunct Kuiper belt that had torn itself apart following the Transition. Only about 20% of the belt had been brought along with the system and without the rest of it balance out the rest of debris from the creation of the system they had either been flung out into space of been pulled into the system. Epsilon Eridani C had been passing by at just the right time to grab them and give them a rather strong throw inside the system. What would have normally a several month journey had turned into one of several days. Luckily most had impacted on moons and the rest had missed most of the other planets.

Reach wasn't as lucky as it just happened to be passing by at just the right time to get bombarded. Granted most of the rouges were small and harmless to the planet, it still posed a problem to space vehicles in the area.

Thus Commander Latch and the _Omen_ were stuck being a catcher's mitt for rouge curve-balls.

"Commander Latch, Radar has object with Track that will bring it in over the Mátra region of Reach" came the voice of his sensors officer.

"Size?" he asked.

"Large enough to make it to ground, should we engage?" the sensor officer asked.

"Weapons, target it with a burst as it passes by, log the trajectory and heading with FLEETCOM so they can divert traffic from the skies overhead."

As the object came near the planet, cannon fire lanced out to strike it, shattering it into smaller chucks that rained over the region. It wouldn't be till later that it would be noticed that the object had come on a track from outside the solar system and had not been part of the Kuiper belt debris at all.

**1130 Hours, September 14, 2552 (+14 Days post Transition, Military Calendar)/**  
**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach, Mátra region**

Ben was wandering the fields outside his school where he had seen the star fall to ground out in the field last night. He had seen it come down in the field as his house and window was backed up against the field that led to the school.

He had run and told his mom that a star had fallen from the sky last night and landed in the school yard. Maria Zolz had turned to look at the clock which had read 1 am. She had told him to go back to bed as he had school tomorrow before rolling back over and going to sleep.

He hadn't slept at all that night, staring at the spot he was sure was where the star had fallen. He had waited till it had been light enough to see where he thought it was before he had waited impatiently for his mom to come in to wake him up. He had practically run out the house leaving behind a rather amused and confused Maria.

He had found it right where he thought it would be, it was a blackish blue star that sparkled at times and left his hand all tingly if he held it for a while. He would show it to his mom later who would tell him that it was nice but did he have to get dirt all over his cloths? She didn't understand, now he had a star and he could make all the wishes he wanted without having to wait for another to fall from the sky.

**1430 Hours, September 27, 2552 (+26 Days post Transition, Military Calendar)/**  
**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach, Mátra region**

He had carried the star everywhere he went since he had picked it up.

His hands had tingled for the first couple of days but later it went away so he didn't think anything of it.

His head had started to hurt instead.

Suddenly he had blood coming from his nose and he didn't know what to do and suddenly everything went to black.

Over the next week the rest of the kids at the school would collapse as well.

Maria was the next to do so, followed by those who had close contact with Ben.

Eventually people who had no contact at all, but all over the region were collapsing as well.

Two weeks after collapsing Ben died from rampant cancerous growths all over his body, soon everyone else within the Mátra region started to die as well.


End file.
